Georgetown's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Georgetown in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Rank it against the rest of the country and Georgetown sits at the 15th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Georgetown by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Georgetown: 0.051g peak ground acceleration, 0.104g at short period, 0.038g at 1 second. Within Delaware alone, Georgetown ranks 10 of 11 cities by seismic hazard - the 10th percentile in-state. Georgetown has a population of about 8,098.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

A full earthquake retrofit typically runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally (around $7,000 typical), driven mainly by house size and foundation type, not by Delaware specifically. California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt grant, which covers a large share of this cost, is a California-only program and does not apply in Delaware.

What this means for insurance

A Georgetown homeowner cannot buy a standalone earthquake policy in most cases - it is added to an existing homeowners policy as an endorsement, so the place to start is a regular home-insurance quote.

Where Georgetown's figures come from

Georgetown's Category A and every number above trace to USGS's own ASCE 7-16 Design Maps service - see the methodology guide. See the category explainer for what Category A does and doesn't tell you about Georgetown.